twenty twenty one
well that was a year.. that was!
It's already hard to remember whether we were locked down or opened up, isolating or integrating, and so after all the shenanigans, downs and ups, and as we stare in the face of the omicron, we thought we'd round up a few highlights and reminders of the modernists twenty twenty one...
Early in the year we were still confined in the on-line world and presented a digital exhibition of photographs by Simon Phipps to coincide with the launch of his book Brutal North and we revelled in those gorgeous black and white images of all those places we weren't allowed to visit.
In March we took a look at some underappreciated Welsh buildings under the threat of demolition and we went bilingual for the first time as we published How Grey Was My Valley, Mor Llwyd Oedd Fy Nghwm by Peter Halliday in both English and Welsh.
In July we peered through the viewfinder of Brian Lomas's camera and looked at the grey streets of north Manchester in the 1980s. Brian's photographs of Manchester shops were exhibited at our gallery as well as published as a book, Small Shops.
Once we were allowed to get our exhibition space up and running .. you just couldn't stop us. Jen Orpin's paintings of empty roads and bridges struck a chord with many visitors longing for the open road..
whilst Mandy Payne's paintings of concrete on concrete proved similarly alluring to our most brutal of visitors, desperate to be out on their own cement fondling excursions.
In September we raised £2500 towards the restoration of Alan Boyson's frieze on the Queens Hotel in Collyhurst. Some unexpected delays and the onset of Winter have prevented us from starting the work, but we hope to get back on track in the Spring sunshine.
Our collaboration with Manchester Union Lager along with designers Trevor and Craig Johnson resulted in our very own beer which we called Feierabendbier, perfect for that Friday after work drink.
We reached the milestone of having producing 40 issues of the modernist magazine between 2011 and 2021 and so published a bumper issue filled with with goodies from from cathedrals to Campari and from BIC pens to J G Ballard - it was happy Birthday to us but also au revoir to Birthday Studio who had designed the modernist magazine since issue 29.
In September, we celebrated our 40th, amongst the rooftops along with many of the people who have collaborated with us along the way, and it was wonderful to be in the company of all our old friends after such a long time apart.
Our last exhibition of the year featured Jo Stanness and Eugene Schlumberger with their collaged and photographic homages to concrete.
We published a load of photo books..
and finally, at the very end of twenty twenty one.. we released issue 41 of the modernist magazine, the start of another expedition in our ongoing creative explorations.. with a new design and a new format, off we go again into the choppy and unknown waters of twenty twenty two.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed, exhibited, designed, supported, funded, visited and just generally been a part of the modernist society in twenty twenty one. We wish you well and hope to see you in 'twenty two.